Robert Jenson is one of the world's leading theologians. He has published numerous theology books, including his 2-volumed Systematic Theology. In 2006 came a little book called Conversations with Poppi about God, which was a collection of conversations between Jenson (Poppi) and his 8-yr old granddaughter called Solveig. Below is their conversation about baptism.
Solveig: Like the story of why baptism became baptism.
Poppi: And what’s that story?
S: I want you to tell it to me.
P: The idea of washing someone to make them clean is a sort of obvious one, isn’t it?
S: Yes … Clean of what?
P: That is the point.
S: Clean of evil.
P: Clean of evil or whatever you want. Strictly speaking, all that water does it take the dirt off. But that makes it an obvious symbol of getting rid of anything that feels dirty. When we know we have been up to things we shouldn’t have, we feel a bit dirty.
S: Yes.
P: So many religions have used water and washing as a symbol for starting over again, getting rid of all the old dirt and starting clean.
S: That’s what the Jews celebrate on Yom Kippur.
P: now in Jesus’s time in Israel there were groups of Jews who have developed different ways of ritual washing. One of them was the group around a man named John the Baptist. Remember him?
S: Yes – which is why it’s called baptism.
P: Baptize is just Greek for “wash,” so to baptize someone is to wash them. John the Baptist was out in the wilderness calling on people to repent – that is to say, calling on people to start over, to get rid of their old dirt, to start afresh. As a way of doing that, he called them to come out to be washed in the River Jordan. And Jesus too went to be baptized.
S: Yes. Of course, there was nothing for him to wash away exactly.
P: And everyone has always been puzzled why he did it.
S: Maybe he want to encourage people? And … we don’t know, but maybe he wanted to give John the Baptist a blessing?
P: Can you think of anything else?
S: I’m sure I could if you give me about two minutes.
P: Okay, you’ve got two minutes. (long pause)
S: Maybe he had never met John the Baptist.
P: He could have met John without being baptized.
S: Maybe he thought that he wanted to start over even if he had done it wonderfully. He could have just wanted to start over and do things differently than he had done before, even if he had done it wonderfully.
P: That’s very good, I think. Do you remember what happened when Jesus was baptized?
S: What?
P: Well, he had just been washed, and he is standing there in the river with the water up to his knees. And then he had a vision of the heavens opening, and he heard God the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son. With him I am well pleased.” And he saw a dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit joining him and God the Father. Right after this is when he began to preach and teach and heal people. So the baptism was a way of ending one way of living – even if it was a wonderful way – and take up a new beginning.
Robert W. Jenson and Solveig Lucia Gold, Conversations with Poppi about God (Brazos, 2006), pp.35-37.
Comments